Ziva's Challenge
by Lynn DiNozzo
Summary: Ziva is challenged to do random acts of kindness each day of Hanukkah. - "Nu uh, Ziva, I don't like surprises. All my surprises end up in being bad ones." Ziva went and grabbed her wallet and keys, "Trust me on this one. Now, let's go."


_A/N: Here's my holiday story for the year! I hope everyone likes it! Please review! Merry Christmas! ~Lynn D._

* * *

Ziva grumbled as she heard her alarm clock going off. Rolling over, she checked what time it was, knowing she'd already hit the snooze button more than once. Surprised, she jumped out of bed and jumped into the shower, she hadn't meant to sleep until 8.

A few days ago as the team was driving to a crime scene, a marquee for a church caught Ziva's eye. She was thrilled when she read that they were welcoming a rabbi for Hanukah on December 9th. She would've liked it if they had a special service for the beginning of Hanukah on the 8th, but she wasn't complaining.

Ziva hadn't really celebrated it in years and she decided this year was as good as any to get started again. Normally by 8 o'clock she would've already had her 5 mile run over with and already eating breakfast, but they'd had a long case that hadn't ended until close to 2 a.m.

Once she was finished with her shower, she wrapped herself in a towel as well as her hair and quickly scrounged through her closet to try and find a dress modest enough to wear, normally when she went to church with Abby she didn't have to worry about that as much, but Jewish customs were definitely stricter.

* * *

The agent was very happy that the whole service wasn't just based on the Rabbi coming, she loved singing the hymns before the service, especially around Christmas time. Even though she hadn't celebrated Christmas as a child, Tony had persuaded her that it really was a lot of fun each year and got her into the spirit every year.

As the sanctuary was filled with everyone singing 'Angels We Have Heard on High' Ziva briefly looked down at the dress she had chosen and decided she was happy with it. A forest green satin dress that was nearly mid-shin, lightly embellished at the neck which was accented with a lace sash at the waist.

Ziva didn't realize how much she had really missed hearing a Rabbi speak, it brought back so many memories, good and bad, of her childhood and teenaged years. Breaking her thoughts, the speaker challenged the congregation, with his booming voice, Ziva listened intently, "Many times during this season we focus mainly on gifts and what we're going to have make for family when they come over, I challenge each and every one of you to do something special for people close in your life, it doesn't have to be huge, just a random act of kindness each day of Hanukah. You have until the 16th to see how many people's heart you can touch this season."

Driving home, Ziva reflected on the message that she'd just heard. Ever since she became a permanent agent of NCIS she tried to follow rule #8 as close as she could as well as do some nice things for her co-workers when she thought of it, but she had never made it a priority. Ziva decided then and there that this season she would put this challenge at the top of her list.

**Day 1**

Early the next morning as she was catching up on her running, Ziva ran by the local coffee vendor and knew what she would do that day.

As usual, Ziva and McGee came in at the same time that day, so he helped her carry in the coffee for the team that morning.

As they set the cups on their designated desks McGee cocked his head to the side, "Hey Ziva?"

"Yes?" she asked as she sat down at her desk.

"Is it someone's birthday? I mean, did I miss something?"

Ziva laughed, "No, I just thought it'd be nice to bring the coffee this morning! Do I need a reason to be nice?"

McGee took a sip of his coffee then snickered, "Guess not."

**Day 2**

"Gibbs," Ziva said as she looked over to her boss, "can I take my lunch break now?"

Gibbs checked his watch then nodded his head. Ziva took the approval while it still stood, grabbed something out of her backpack then went down to the lab.

"Abby?" Ziva called as she got out of the elevator.

"Ziva! What can I do for you?" Abby smiled as she hugged the agent.

When Ziva didn't answer, Abby cocked her head to the side and looked down at Ziva's hands that were behind her back, "Whatcha hiding?"

Ziva laughed, "Close your eyes!" Abby obliged as Ziva brought her hands around, revealing the newest "Brain Matter" CD.

"Okay Abby, you can open them now!"

As she opened them, her eyes got wide and she began to jump up and down with excitement then leaned in for a hug, "Thank you so much! I was going to put this on my Christmas list but it wasn't going to be out until the New Year! How'd you get it?!"

Ziva snickered, "I've got some connections."

"Well," Abby laughed as she walked over to her CD player and put in the new music, "I'm just going to enjoy my music and not ask too many questions! Thank you again!" Abby called as Ziva went back upstairs to finish her lunch break.

**Day 3**

That evening after getting off a long case, Ziva wasn't able to sleep. After laying in bed for nearly an hour, she figured she may as well be productive. Without being able to come up with something for the next day's act of kindness Ziva decided now was as good a time as any. For almost 30 minutes she paced her living room trying to figure something out. When it finally hit her, she ran to her laptop and began to type.

At almost 2a.m. she put her head in her hands then hit the print button. Knowing it would take a long time for everything to print out, she went back to her bedroom, fell onto her bed and went to sleep.

Even though she was a little tired, she was used to it so she still got up at 5:45a.m., went for her morning run, showered, and got to work just a few minutes later than her normal time.

As she got off the elevator she noticed that McGee had beaten her to work, but she guess it wasn't by very much.

Dropping her backpack on the floor she grabbed the stack of papers she'd printed off then walked over to McGee, "Good Morning!"

Tim looked up to her and smiled, "Morning Ziva! I was looking for you in the parking lot, but I guess after such a long case last night we're all a little more tired than usual!"

Ziva nodded her head then handed McGee the papers she'd been working on for nearly 3 hours the night before, "I could not sleep last night, so I thought I could do something for you! I know that recently you've had a little bit of 'writer's stop', so maybe some of these ideas could help you get started!"

McGee's face lit up as he accepted the stack of ideas, "Thank you Ziva! I don't know what you say!" he paused for a moment as Ziva walked back to her desk.

As she sat down, he smirked, "Hey Ziva?"

She looked up, "Yes?"

"It's called 'writer's block'."

"Oh, well, whatever you want to call it, I hope they can help you!"

**Day 4**

As much as Ziva tried to concentrate, the crumpling of papers across the bullpen kept her from being able to get any paperwork done.

Finally, she sighed then looked across the bullpen to Tony, "What is the matter?"

He looked around the bullpen when Ziva helped him out, "Tony, we're the only ones left on the floor, no one is going to hear you, now what's wrong?"

Tony sighed then gave in, "Well, it's my movie night and I can't seem to get this report straight," he looked around the room once more, "I can't remember all the details of the case and I've got this huge headache."

Ziva smiled knowingly then stood up and walked over to her partner's desk, "You go Tony, I know how you write reports, I'll do it for you."

Tony looked up at her, "Seriously?"

She smiled, "Seriously."

"Wow, thanks Ziva! I'll make it up to you!"

She shook her head as he began walking to the elevator, "No need."

As she heard the elevator's doors close, she sat down at his desk and began typing, making sure not to duplicate her report.

Less than 30 minutes later, Ziva was stapling the report together. She was just about to get up to place it on Gibbs' desk with the others but Tony's childhood picture caught her eye. Looking around the room, she smiled then brought it over to her desk and taped it to her monitor, she was sure Tony wouldn't mind, she was getting used to this 'new Tony'. After getting all the reports where they needed to be she headed home with an idea for the next day.

**Day 5**

At 6 o'clock that evening Gibbs decided after working 2 long cases that week and no cases coming in that day he'd give his team an early start to their weekend. "Hey," he said to get everyone's attention, "get outta here. You all did a good week's work and I'll see you all back here Monday morning."

Ziva looked over to Tony, then to McGee, "McGee! Go get Abby and bring her up here." Tim looked confused but did it anyway. He knew better than to get on her bad side.

Tony walked over to Ziva's desk after turning off his computer then sat on the side of her desk, "What are you up to?"

Ziva smiled, "You'll find out when Abby gets here."

A few moments later Abby came bouncing through the bullpen, "Hi Ziva! Hi Tony!" She stopped in front of Ziva's desk with McGee not far behind.

Ziva stood up, "Does anyone have plans for tonight?"

Everyone shook their head, then Ziva smiled, "Good! How would everyone like to come to my place for dinner tonight?"

Abby ran behind Ziva's desk and gave her a big hug, "I'd love it! And I accept for DiNozzo and Timmy! What time is dinner?"

The agent laughed at the girl's enthusiasm then checked her watch, "How about 7:30? That'd give me enough time to go to the grocery store and have a meal prepared. What would you like?"

After a few moments of thinking, Abby spoke up, "How does spaghetti sound?"

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement then McGee and Abby gathered their stuff up and headed out to their apartments to get ready.

After they had left Ziva grabbed her backpack and got into the elevator, just as the doors were about to close Tony squeezed in, "Thought you could use some help shopping."

Ziva rolled her eyes at his excuse to go with her, but appreciated it, "Alright Tony, what movie do you want to watch afterwards?"

* * *

Once all the dishes had been put away and most of the laughter from stories of everyone's most humiliating moments had died down, Tony put in an old classic, "Gone With the Wind" for everyone to fall asleep to.

His co-workers had learned they would never hear a word of dialogue from the movie with Tony's commentary, but had learned to enjoy it. They knew that the key to friendship is accepting people's flaws just as well as their talents.

**Day 6**

Even though everyone woke up sore from sleeping almost on top of each other, they had to admit they had a very fun evening. After McGee and Abby had left to go on their weekly picnic, Tony stuck around with Ziva for awhile to help her clean up the apartment.

A few hours later once her place looked almost back to normal Tony sat down on the couch while Ziva was doing dishes in the kitchen from eating a late lunch. "Tony!"

He stretched out his back then looked over to the kitchen, "Hmm?"

"Do you have any plans for this evening?"

He stood up and walked over to Ziva and helped her dry the dishes, "Not particularly, did you have something in mind?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do."

"What would that be?"

She smiled then tapped his shoulder, "You will find out soon enough."

"Nu uh, Ziva, I don't like surprises. All my surprises end up in being bad ones."

Ziva went and grabbed her wallet and keys, "Trust me on this one. Now, let's go."

On the way to Tony's surprise he didn't say a word, which Ziva found very disconcerting, but decided to let him be the way he was. 15 minutes later they pulled into an old drive-in movie.

Ziva stopped to get their tickets then pulled up to the center parking lot where they could see the screen perfectly.

A few moments later after letting everything sink in, Tony turned to Ziva with a smile on his face, "How did you find this place? It's amazing!"

"After a bad date with Ray I just drove and drove and just stumbled upon it. I knew one of these days it'd be a nice place to go to after a long day. Seems like I was right!"

"Well," Tony sighed, "it depends. Is this a chick-flick that is playing, I mean, I don't want to sit through a sappy movie."

Ziva laughed, "I don't think you will be disappointed in the movie that is playing today."

Just moments later the movie began and Tony's jaw dropped, "This is Skyfall! I've wanted to see this since it came out! How did you know?!"

Ziva chuckled, "You mean besides all the times you've talked about it?"

Tony snickered, "Oh. Well, I really do appreciate it, Ziva. Thank you."

**Day 7**

Ziva pulled the same dress she had worn last Sunday out of the closet, put it on, then headed out of the door. 20 minutes later she pulled up to Abby's church. She decided this would be a perfect way to end the last day of Hanukah. Surprising her friends was something she didn't usually have the chance to do, but found great joy in making those she cared about smile.

Ziva only had to stand outside of the church for a couple minutes until she spotted Abby's famous red hearse pulling into the parking lot.

A few moments later she saw Abby running up the stairs to her, "Ziva! What are you doing here?!"

Ziva shrugged her shoulders, "I just thought you would like some company this morning."

Abby hugged her, "No Ziva, I would _love_ it!"

The scientist took Ziva's hand and led her into the church, smiling as big as ever. Looking back on her week, Ziva didn't think any Hanukah could've topped this one.


End file.
